


Inhale, Exhale & Repeat

by maraudquxxrs



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-15
Updated: 2019-09-15
Packaged: 2020-10-19 12:27:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20657231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maraudquxxrs/pseuds/maraudquxxrs
Summary: Mary and Gin's first date (hint: it goes well).





	Inhale, Exhale & Repeat

Mary had gone on dates before, she had gone on one with James their fourth year and had gone out with Peter for a few months their fifth year, but she hadn’t felt the same about them as she felt about Gin.

She met Gin the year before at a prefects meeting, and they had been acquaintances for a while, but it wasn’t until she and Peter had broken up that they became friends. She had had prefect duties with him that night, and she was crying and he comforted her and they began talking more. And then, just a few days ago, he asked if she wanted to go to Hogsmeade with him, and she said yes.

* * *

“Mary, you’ve been flirting with him for months, don’t be so nervous about this,” Lily said as she helped Mary with her hair and make-up. Mary would have asked one of her dormmates, but Lily was her best friend and it was just easier for Mary to ask her.

“And you’ve been flirting with James for months, but if he ever asked you out, you would be nervous too, Lils,” Mary said, knowing that it was a bit bitchy for her bring up the fact that James had barely noticed Lily flirting with him all year, but Lily laughed as she said it.

“Well, we’ll worry about that if it happens. Right now, we have to get you ready for your date, and that means making sure that you aren’t a nervous wreck,” Lily replied, braiding Mary’s hair loosely and giving her a ‘I’ll get back at you later for that’ look.

Mary clenched her teeth, as she did when she was nervous, and Lily took one look at her and said, “Just breathe.” Mary let a breath out, and Lily just laughed, saying, “Better than that. Inhale. Exhale. And repeat.”

Mary tried again and after a few minutes, she smiled and said, “Thanks for helping Lils. And sorry for saying that thing about you and James.” Lily just waved it off, as if to say, ‘I’ve already forgotten about it’ but also winked as if to say, ‘but I’ll remember later.’

Mary and Lily headed to the common room to meet Gin and Lily whispered, “Remember: Inhale. Exhale. Repeat. And good luck,” before heading back to the Gryffindor common room to “study’, or at least that was the excuse she had given Mary for not going to Hogsmeade this weekend.

* * *

When Mary saw Gin standing in the middle of the common room, she smiled instinctively, and once she got to him, she said, “Hey, Gin,” blushing hard. Gin took a step towards her, took her hand, and pressed a soft kiss to warming cheek.

When he stepped back, he whispered, “Hi Mary.” She was speechless, and it took her a moment to realize that one, he was still holding her hand, and two, he had asked a question. “Are you ready to go?”

“Yes,” Mary replied, and they let go of each other’s hands while walking out of the castle because the defense against the dark arts teacher of the year was pretty big on the ‘no public displays of affection’ rule and yes, he counted holding hands as a public display of affection. Mary almost couldn’t wait until he inevitably quit or got fired at the end of the year. But the end of the year meant Gin leaving too.

It was cold outside, even for November, and when Gin saw her shivering, he pulled her closer to him by wrapping his arm around her, and she quite liked how warm he was. “Thanks”, she said to him, trying to speak louder than the roaring wind.

“No problem,” he replied, smiling down at her. He nearly tripped over a loose cobblestone in the path, and they both laughed when Mary caught him. “Maybe we should have walked separately. Your beauty is distracting.”

Mary laughed and said, “Well, you’re pretty distracting too, but it’s worth tripping over if I say so myself.” Gin smiled at her again as they arrived at the shops, and he led her into The Three Broomsticks.

“I figured we could get lunch here and then we could stop by Honeydukes – they selling brownies today, and I know that Honeydukes brownies are your favorite dessert – and maybe we could stop by T & S if we have time before heading back,” Gin said, but he looked at her as if waiting for her to say that something was wrong.

“That all sounds perfect, Gin,” Mary replied.

It took them a moment to find a table in the busy pub but as soon as they did, Madam Rosmerta, a waitress that they had known since they had begun coming to Hogsmeade, came to get their orders, and they decided on a plate of Cornish pasties for the table, along with two orders of chips and, of course, a mug of butterbeer for each of them.

“So, Mary…,” Gin started, but he didn’t seem to know how to end it.

She laughed nervously, and said, “Why don’t we just ask each other questions to ease the tension? I’ll go first. What is your biggest pet peeve?”

“Well, I think my biggest pet peeve is purebloods acting all holier-than-thou and picking on muggle-borns who are one hundred times better than they’ll ever be,” Gin answered and Mary could tell he wasn’t just saying that for her benefit – that he was telling the truth. Then he asked, “If you could change one moment in your life, what would you change and how do you think it would affect any future events?”

“Ooh, that’s a good one. Personally, I wish that I had found out about magic sooner so that during my first year, I wasn’t so awkward and stupid,” Mary replied and then continued, “What about you?”

“First of all, I remember you from first year, and you weren’t stupid. But you were awkward. Still are. It’s one of the things I like about you,” Gin answered. “And second of all, I would have asked you out sooner. Maybe if I had, Peter would never have had the chance to break your heart.”

Mary blushed and said, “He didn’t really break my heart. He and I weren’t meant for each other, and while I realized that, break ups, especially first break ups are upsetting,” and then she followed that comment up with, “Plus, I think I needed to go through what I went through with him to realize how much I liked you, as much as that sucks.”

“Yeah, I get what you mean. It’s kind of like, you change one moment in your life and suddenly all these things that you didn’t want to change are also changed and you realize that some things are just meant to happen in order for better things to happen. It sucks, but it’s life, right?”

“Exactly!”, Mary said, almost in wonder. None of her other friends understood the fact that she wouldn’t really want to change anything about her life, even the bad things that had happened. But Gin did. Of course Gin understood.

Their food came, and they ate in a comfortable silence, sneaking smiles at each other between bites of food and the entire time, Mary was thinking that this was the best date she had ever been on, despite it not even being over yet. However, they stayed long after eating, ignoring the stares they got from the employees for keeping the table for so long.

Once they realized the time, Gin insisted on paying for the meal and Mary agreed as long as she could pay for the brownies at Honeydukes. Most guys got really weird about being the ones to pay for the date, almost acting insecure, but Mary didn’t like other people always paying for her.

They held hands while walking throughout Hogsmeade and in the line at Honeydukes, only breaking apart when Mary paid for the brownies and for a bag of a few treats that they picked up around the store.

“I can see why these are your favorite,” Gin said after finishing his brownie. Mary laughed at the crumbs at the edge of his lips and reached up to wipe it off with a swipe of her thumb. He laughed back and licked his lips for any other stray crumbs.

“It’s getting late,” Gin said, “We should head back. Sorry that we couldn’t make it to Tomes and Scrolls.”

Mary shrugged and said, “It’s fine. I probably have enough books anyways.”

Gin’s eyes widened and said, “How dare you?! You can never have enough books!”

They both laughed and headed back to the castle, and it was almost like they were the only ones in the world.

* * *

Once they got back to the castle, Mary said, “I’m not really hungry, maybe we should just skip dinner. We could go up to the common room and just… talk.”

Gin bit his lip and rushed to nod his head. They made their way to the Ravenclaw tower, and there were only a couple of people still in the room, so they were practically alone. They sat on a couch near one of the three fires in the room, shedding their jackets, and then suddenly, they both felt awkward again.

Mary looked over and up at Gin, and he was already looking back at her, and suddenly, he was leaning down and kissing her. And she was kissing him back. And his hands were just barely grazing her side, and her arms were wrapped around his neck.

When they broke apart, Mary said, “I sort of wish this date could go on forever.”

A few people were already coming back from dinner and the common room was becoming crowded again, so Gin whispered, “Meet me back here at eleven.”

* * *

A little before eleven, they met in the empty common room, where only one fire was lit now, and Mary was thankful that she had grabbed her coat because Gin led her up through the spirals of the tower that only seventh years had access to, and stopped when they reached a small balcony obviously meant for stargazing.

They laid out on a blanket that Gin had brought with him and Gin pointed out all of the constellations that he knew, Mary pointing out a few more, and then for a while they just laid there, looking up at the stars and the crescent moon.

Gin looked over after a while and whispered shyly, “Is this what love feels like?”

“I hope so,” Mary whispered in reply.

**Author's Note:**

> I usually headcanon Mary as trans and Gin as trans, ace, and biro, but seeing as it was the seventies, I wasn't sure how to fit it into this fic. Check out my other fic, This is How We Dance, if you want more of them.


End file.
